Rotary garden sprinkler



y 1955 H. G. HOLMES ROTARY GARDEN SPRINKLER 2 Sheet-Sheet 1 Filed Jan.22, 1952 INVENTOR HERBERT G. HOLMES ATTORNEY July 31, 1956 H. G. HOLMESROTARY GARDEN SPRINKLER Filed Jan. 22, 1952 I wiw 2a 29 27 32a l 2Sheets-Shae t 2 HERBERT G. HOLMES ATTORNEY 2,757,046 Patented July 31,1956 ROTARY GARDEN SPRINKLER Herbert G. Holmes, Los Gatos, Califi,assignor to Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation, San Jose, Calif., acorporation of Delaware Application January 22, 1952, Serial No. 267,533

Claims. (Cl. 299-69) The present invention relates to self-propellingrotary garden sprinklers of the type wherein the force of the water jetejected fro-m the sprinkler nozzle is employed to impart to said nozzlea stepwise rotary movement about a vertical axis.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary gardensprinkler, of the type referred to, that is simple in construction anddependable in operation.

Another object is to provide a garden sprinkler, of the type referredto, whose rotary movement occurs uniformly in one direction.

Still another object is to so arrange a sprinkler, of the type referredto, as to avoid any backlash in the rotary movement of its nozzle.

An additional object of the invention is to so arrange a sprinkler, ofthe type referred to, that continuity of its rotary advance is assured,and any tendency of its relatively rotatable components to bind iseffectively counteracted.

Still another object is to provide a garden sprinkler, of the typereferred to, which spreads practically all the ejected water in asubstantially horizontal direction with a minimum of upward deflection,such as might wet the foliage of bushes or trees.

These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent fromthe following description of the accompanying drawings which illustratea preferred embodiment thereof and wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective of a garden sprinkler embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the sprinkler and the water supplyconduit upon which it is mounted.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the sprinkler.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged elevation of the sprinkler viewed from a point infront of its spray nozzle orifice, i. e. in the direction of arrows 4-4in Fig. 2.

Having first reference to Figs. 1 and 2, the sprinkler of my inventioncomprises a stationary base portion in theform of a tubular socket 10.During practical use of the sprinkler, said socket is firmly secured tothe end of a water supply line which is represented by the vertical pipe11. For this purpose a centrally apertured cap 12 may be provided withinternal threads 13a and 13b in its neck and body portion, respectively,which may be engaged with external threads 14a and 14b provided in thelower end of the socket 1'0 and the upper end of the pipe 11,respectively, and the socket 10 may possess an outer collar in the formof a hexnut 10a to facilitate tightening of the socket 10 within the cap12'. Rotatably received within the socltet'lo isthe tubular stem 15 ofthe rotary sprinkler head 16. Said stem 15 is free to slide verticallywithin the socket 10 but its bottom endis radially extended below thelower end of the socket to form an outwardly directed annular shoulder17' by means of which the stem 15 is retained within the socket 10. Toestablish a desired degree of frictional resistance to the rotation ofthe stem 15 within the socketlfl, a suitable gasket 18 isinterposedbetween the lower end ofv the socket 10 and the annular shoulder 17.During operation of the sprinkler,

said gasket is held under compression between the socket 10 and theshoulder 17 by the force exerted by the upwardly flowing water currentupon the extended bottom end of the stem 15. Securely screwed upon theprojecting upper end of the tubular stem 15 is the vertical shank 20 ofan elbow pipe or conduit 21. The other shank 22 of said elbow pipeextends in a radial direction with a slightly upward inclination, andwithin the open end of said radially extending shank is screwed the jetnozzle 23. Said nozzle may be of conventional design forming a slottedtubular nipple 230 that projects beyond the upper outwardly directedshank of the elbow pipe as shown in both Figs. 1 and 2.

To rotate the sprinkler head 16 within the base 10 during practicalperformance of the device, a horizontally positioned tubular socket 25is firmly secured to, or may form an integral part of the vertical shank20 of the elbow pipe 21, and rotatably received within said socket is ahorizontal shaft 26. The position of said socket 25 on, and relative to,the elbow pipe 21 is preferably such that said horizontal shaft 26extends in a vertical plane that is parallel to the vertical planedetermined by the two shanks of the elbow tube 21 which latter planecontains the axis of the water jet ejected from the nozzle 23 duringoperation of the sprinkler. Firmly secured to the forwardly projectingend of the horizontal shaft 26, i. e., the end pointing in the samedirection as the jet nozzle 23, is a hub 27 which forms a circular disc28 to which is bolted a rocker as indicated by the screw bolts 29 inFigs. 1 and 2. The rocker 30 comprises an intermediate portion in theform of a plate 31 that lies substantially within a vertical planeextending at right angles to the center axis of the horizontal shaft 26.Said plate 31 extends downwardly to a level below the upper end of thestationary sprinkler base 10, and its lower end carries a crossbar 32which may be an integral part of said plate as shown, and which extendssubstantially parallel to the horizontal shaft 26 but on the oppositeside of the sprinkler head 16 and its socket 10. The inner arm 32a ofthe crossbar 32 has a concave edge 33 adjacent the tubular socket 10,and means are provided to yieldably hold the rocker 30 in a positionwherein the crossbar 32 bears with said concave edge against thestationary socket 10. For this purpose, a torsion spring 35 is coiledaround the rearwardly projecting portion of the horizontal shaft 26,with one of its ends attached to a collar 36 that is firmly secured tosaid shaft, and its opposite end anchored in an abutment 37 that isformed on the tubular socket 25. Said spring 35 is arranged'to'urge theshaft 26 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 4 until thecrossbar 32 strikes against the stationary sprinkler base 10, as bestillustrated in Fig. l. The outer arm 32b of the crossbar 32 is loadedwith a weight 45 for reasons that will presently appear.

At its upper end, the plate 31 is bent in radial direction to form anarrow upwardly inclined shelf 40 of radially converging contour. Whenthe rocker 30 is in its extreme clockwise position as shown in Fig. l,the shelf is situated a limited distance below the radial shank of theelbow pipe 21 and the center axis of the sprinkler jet ejected from thenozzle 23, and may extend in a plane of about the same inclination assaid center axis. At its far end, the shelf 40 carries a verticallypositioned lateral vane 41 located on the sameside of the sprinkler jetaxis as the horizontalshaft 26 in such a manner as to slant in radialdirection toward said sprinkler jet axis which is indicated by adash-dot line A in Fig. 3. In fact, the remote edge 41a of said vane(viewed from the vertical center axis of the sprinkler) is preferablycurved inwardly to intersect the path of the sprinkler jet as best shownin Fig. 3. At an intermediate point the shelf 40 carries a secondvertically positioned vane 42 which is located on the same side withrespect to the sprinkler jet axis as the stopbar 32, whenever the rockeris in the extreme clockwise position illustrated in Fig. 1. As bestshown in Fig. 3, the plane of said vane 42 is slightly inclined relativeto the sprinkler jet such that the remote edge thereof lies closest tothe center line A of said jet.

When the supply of water is turned off, the rocker 30 assumes theposition illustrated in Fig. 1 under the urgency of the torsion spring35 and the weight 45 corresponding to the position shown in full linesin Fig. 4. As soon as the water is turned on, however, the jet of Waterejected from the nozzle 23 rushes past the intermediate vane 42,impinges upon the inwardly slanting side wall and the inwardly turnedend of the remote vane 41 and is deflected to the left as viewed in Fig.3 while imparting an oppositely directed moment to said vane 41 and theshelf 40 upon which said vane 41 is mounted. To this moment thedescribed device may respond in a two-fold manner: (1) The totalsprinkler head 16 may turn within the stationary socket in a clockwisedirection as viewed in Fig. 3, and (2) the rocker may swing in acounterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 4 about the center axis ofits horizontal shaft 26 to the position illustrated in broken lines insaid Fig. 4, which position is dependent upon the weight 45 and thestrength of the torsion spring (which oppose the describedcounterclockwise motion) in relation to the friction established by thegasket 18 between the rotatable stem 15 of the sprinkler head 16 and thestationary sprinkler base 10 (which opposes rotary movement of theformer within the latter). By making spring 35 of appropriate strengthas compared with the friction between the stem 15 and the base 10,matters may be arranged in such a manner that the water jet imparts aslight but significant rotary movement in clockwise direction to thetotal sprinkler head (as viewed in Fig. 3) while counerclock- Wiserotation of the shelf about the center axis of the shaft 26 (as viewedin Figs. 1 and 4) is restricted to a shallow arc. As the shelf 40 turnsin the described manner to withdraw the vane 41 from the impact of thewater jet, the torsion spring 35 is tensioned and acts in concert withthe weight to restore the rocker 30 to its initial clockwise position;and as the shelf 40 returns to its original position directly below thewater jet, the intermediately positioned vane 42, which is of aninclination opposite to vane 41. enters the water jet prior to vane 41,and shields the curved end of said vane momentarily from the full impactof the Water jet so that the return movement of the rocker 30 under theforce of weight 45 and the urgency of the spring 35 may be completedwithout interference. In addition, the force of the water jet upon theinclined inner surface of the intermediate vane 42 imparts an addedreturn moment to the rocker 30, as it returns to its clockwise position,and as a result thereof, the return movement of the rocker is completedwith a sudden thrust before the water jet may again fully impinge uponthe remote vane 41 and start another cycle in the operation of thesprinkler.

Due to the fact that the stopbar 32 at the lower end of the plate 31 isarranged to come against a stationary component of the sprinkler.namely, its stationary base 10. the return movement of the rocker 30 isunable to impart a reverse rotational increment to the sprinkler head16. Thus, the sprinkler nozzle advances exclusively in clockwisedirection as viewed in Fig. 3 without any backlash so that there will beno excessively wettened sectors in the area serviced by the sprinkler ofmy invention. In fact. by loading the forwardly extending arm 32b of thestopbar 32 with the weight 45. the return stroke of the rocker 30imparts an additional rotative increment of clockwise direction to thesprinkler head, because as the rear end 32a of the stopbar 32 comes toan abrupt halt against the stationary sprinkler socket 10, the momentumof its forward end 32b and of the weight 45 secured thereto tends toswing the entire sprinkler head further in clockwise direction about thevertical center axis of the device. The impact of the loaded stopbar 32against the stationary base 10 has the added advantage of jarring saidbase continuously to such an extent that the relatively rotatableelements 10 and 15 are loosened and the rotary stem 15 of the sprinklerhead 16 may readily follow the rotary impulses imparted to it by thesprinkler jet. Thus, the device will dependably remain in rotativecondition during practical use thereof. Moreover, owing to the fact thatthe shelf 40 is arranged to turn about a horizontal axis adjacent to thesprinkler jet axis and substantially parallel to a vertical planecontaining said sprinkler jet axis, with its rotative movement limitedto a shallow arc, there is practically no upward deflection of the waterdispensed by the sprinkler, such as may wet the foliage of trees abovethe serviced meadows or fields.

While I have explained by invention with the aid of an exemplaryembodiment thereof, it will be understood that I do not wish to belimited to the specific constructional details shown and described whichmay be departed from without departing from the spirit and scope of myinvention. Thus, the rocker 30 may be arranged to turn about an axisthat is not only parallel to the vertical plane determined by the centeraxis of the water jet but lies actually within said vertical plane.

I claim:

1. A self-propelling rotary sprinkler including a stationary socket; asprinkler head rotatably mounted in and projecting above said socket,said sprinkler head having a nozzle adapted to form a radially directedwater jet; and means for turning said sprinkler head comprising a rockersupported from said sprinkler head for rotation about an axissubstantially parallel to the vertical plane containing the center axisof said water jet, a radially extending shelf provided on the upper endof said rocker, a stop member in the form of a bar extendingsubstantially parallel to the defined vertical plane provided at thelower end of said rocker at sufliciently low a level to bear againstsaid stationary socket, said stopbar having a radially projecting outerend, spring means yieldably urging said rocker into a rotary positionwherein the inner end of said bar engages said stationary socket, avertical vane provided at the remote end of said shelf at the sideopposite to said stopbar with respect to the defined vertical plane,said vane being inclined relatively to the said jet axis and having itsremote edge bent inwardly to intersect said jet axis when the rocker isin the rotary position determined by said stopbar, and a weight attachedto said rocker and spaced radially from the axis of rotation of saidsprinkler head to impart a turning moment to said head through saidrocker as said stopbar strikes said stationary socket.

2. A self-propelling rotary sprinkler including a stationary socket; asprinkler head rotatably mounted in said socket, said sprinkler headhaving a nozzle adapted to form a radially directed water jet, and meansfor turning said sprinkler head comprising a rocker supported from saidsprinkler head for rotation about an axis substantially horizontal andparallel to the vertical plane containing the center axis of said waterjet, a stop member in the form of a bar extending parallel to thedefined vertical plane provided at the lower end of said rocker andadapted to bear with one of its ends against said stationary socket, avertical vane supported from the upper end of said rocker at a pointremote from the orifice of said nozzle in such relation to said stopbarwith respect to the defined vertical plane as to converge from theopposite side in radial direction toward said jet axis when said rockeris in the rotary position determined by engagement of said stopbar withsaid socket, and a weight provided at the other end of said stopbar andspaced from the axis of rotation of said sprinkler head to apply aturning moment to said head through said rocker causing a rotation ofsaid head.

3. A self-propelled rotary sprinkler comprising a stationary support, aconduit rotatably mounted on said support, a nozzle on said conduit, alever disposed at one side of said conduit, a shaft pivotally mounted onsaid conduit, means mounting said lever on said shaft for pivotalmovement relative to said conduit and for conjoint rotation with saidshaft and said conduit about the axis of said conduit, a stop disposedon said lever and projecting away from the plane of pivoting of saidlever and into abutting contact with said stationary support, a vanemounted on said lever adjacent one end thereof and positioned in thepath of the stream of water issuing from said nozzle, said lever beingpivotally movable in one direction upon impact of the stream on saidvane, transmitting a component of the force of the impart through saidmounting means and through said shaft as a turning moment against saidconduit to rotate the same, a spring operatively connected between saidconduit and said lever to resist the pivoting of said lever in said onedirection and to return said stop to the position abutting saidstationary support, and a weight on said lever on the opposite side ofthe pivot axis from said vane and spaced from the axis of rotation ofsaid nozzle to impart a turning moment to said conduit through saidmounting means when said stop impacts against said stationary support.

4. A self-propelled rotary sprinkler comprising a stationary socket, aconduit rotatably mounted in said socket, a nozzle on said conduit, alever disposed at one side of said conduit, a shaft pivotally mounted onsaid conduit, means mounting said lever for pivotal movement relative tosaid conduit and for conjoint rotation with said shaft and said conduitabout the axis of said conduit, 3. vane carried by said lever anddisposed in the path of a stream of water issuing from said nozzle, saidlever being pivotally movable in one direction upon impact of the streamof water on said vane transmitting a portion of the force of said impactto said conduit through said mounting means and said shaft to rotate theconduit in one rotary direction, a weight on said lever movable in apath spaced from the axis of rotation of said conduit to an elevatedposition as said lever is rocked in said one direction, meansoperatively connected between said lever and said conduit for rockingsaid lever in an opposite direction when said weight reaches saidelevated position, and stop means carried by said lever and projectingaway from the plane of rotation of said lever into a parallel planethrough said socket and into a position to contact said socket uponpivoting movement of said lever in said opposite direction, said weightbeing arranged to apply a turning moment to said conduit through saidlever, said mounting means and said shaft upon impact of said stop withsaid socket to further rotate said conduit in the said one rotarydirection.

5. A rotary sprinkler comprising a fixed support member, a conduitterminating in a nozzle mounted on said support member for rotationabout a vertical axis, said nozzle being arranged to discharge aradially directed fluid jet, a shaft rotatably journaled on said conduitin a plane parallel to and ofiset laterally from a first vertical planepassing through said vertical axis and through said jet, said shaftextending to opposite sides of a second vertical plane passing throughsaid vertical axis and normal to said shaft, a rocker keyed on saidshaft on one side of said second vertical plane, a vane disposed on saidrocker in the path of said jet, said rocker being pivotally movable inone direction upon impact of said jet on said vane, a stopbar on saidrocker and having a weight associated therewith, and a spring supportedon said conduit on the opposite side of said second vertical plane, saidspring being operatively connected between said conduit and said shaftto resist pivotal movement of said rocker by said jet and to urge saidstopbar into striking contact with said support member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,710,107 Orr Apr. 23, 1929 1,997,901 Engelhart Apr. 16, 1935 2,119,312Buckner May 21, 1938 2,214,990 Buckner Sept. 17, 1940 2,380,101Englehart July 10, 1945 2,606,789 Royer Aug. 12, 1952 2,625,411 UngerJan. 13, 1953 2,654,635 Lazzarini Oct. 6, 1953

